Too many beautiful things said here to list just a few, so here is a transcript. (If The Seattle Times can paste this transcript into the description box, then it will be searchable. Comments are not searchable.): [Shakiah Danielson:] Dance for me, it feels like a weapon of war, a platform to communicate. It feels like passion. It feels like freedom. It feels like liberty. It feels like healing. It feels like confrontation. Hip-hop for me is not just about this style of dance, you know, it's, there's a culture, you know, and a lot of people get their ideas about black people from hip-hop. This is the first time I've choreographed an entire show. It's called "The Groovement" as a play on words for sparking a movement through dance, through grooves, so they get to use this specific form to address violence against young people. There's some concerns that this age group has. "Dang, is this the world I'm coming into? Do I matter?!" You know what I'm saying? "Do I even fricking matter?!" [Talaya Logan:] There's just a certain culture about Northwest Tap that you can't really get anywhere else. 'Cause it's great to, you know, smile and dance and have nice arms, and it's another thing to get really serious and, you know, discuss what you're going through in your daily lives, what so many people are going through. It's such a good feeling that it feels like someone hears you, you know, someone hears me, someone hears us. Miss Shakiah has been such an important role model for me. When you can see the passion in someone, when you can see why they do what they do, you just look at them and you see them and you're, like, "You're doing what you're supposed to be doing." What? [Students:] Yeah! Yeah! [Shakiah Danielson:] It's not a small thing for them to trust you, and so, I value that, a lot. I learn them. I don't assume I know them. I learn them. Some are reserved, some are more outgoing, and you let them be them, you let them tell you who they are. I think that the biggest thing that they get out of this, at least from what I see, is a sense of self. You know how, when you grow, you always come to "Who am I?" You always end up coming back to that question: "Who am I?" And then you get a sense of who you are, and then you grow a little bit more and then you're, like, "O crap! Who am I?," you know, again! Dance, to me, is one of those tools that I use to work out that question. In dance, I'm able to discern those areas in these kids and show them, not a great dance move, but how they use dance to deal with that area in their life. [Talaya Logan:] It's really part of the foundation of who I am. It just really rooted me in all of my core values, and being a young woman, and being confident, and being, really, who I am, and not being afraid to be who I am. Especially growing up, I was always the black girl in the room and, just being an outcast like that, it was really hard for me and I found myself trying to assimilate with the other groups and, you know, like the things that they liked, and I realized it wasn't what I liked to do, and once I found dance, I found myself, like, I found, kind of, my roots. I actually have really bad stage fright. When I go on stage, I get so nervous. I get this really, like, hard knot, kind of, in my stomach. [Shakiah Danielson:] It hits my stomach. It hits my stomach. What I feel-I'm proud! [Music: Hell you talmbout. Hell you talmbout. Hell you talmbout. Hell you talmbout. Hell you talmbout. Walter Scott. Say his name! Walter Scott. Say his name! Walter Scott. Say his name! Walter Scott. Won't you say his name?] I guess I'm excited. I'm pumped. I'm proud. I love, I love them! [Music: Jerame Reed. Say his name! Jerame Reed. Say his name! Jerame Reed. Say his name! Jerame Reed. Won't you say his name? Phillip White. Say his name! Phillip White. Say his name! Phillip White. Say his name! Phillip White. Won't you say his name? Say his name! Say his name! Say his name! Say his name! Say his name! Say his name! Say his name! Say his name! Say his name! Hell you talmbout. Hell you talmbout. Hell you talmbout. Hell you talmbout. Hell you talmbout. Hell you talmbout. Eric Garner. Say his name! Eric Garner.] I care about these kids, knowing that they have value and worth. I want them doing pieces like this, and participating, and knowing they don't deserve to murdered by law, and that they can bring change, and demonstrate the compassion that they don't always receive.
"...they can bring change and demonstrate the compassion that they don't always receive"
Too many beautiful things said here to list just a few, so here is a transcript. (If The Seattle Times can paste this transcript into the description box, then it will be searchable. Comments are not searchable.):
[Shakiah Danielson:] Dance for me, it feels like a weapon of war, a platform to communicate. It feels like passion. It feels like freedom. It feels like liberty. It feels like healing. It feels like confrontation. Hip-hop for me is not just about this style of dance, you know, it's, there's a culture, you know, and a lot of people get their ideas about black people from hip-hop.
This is the first time I've choreographed an entire show. It's called "The Groovement" as a play on words for sparking a movement through dance, through grooves, so they get to use this specific form to address violence against young people.
There's some concerns that this age group has. "Dang, is this the world I'm coming into? Do I matter?!" You know what I'm saying? "Do I even fricking matter?!"
[Talaya Logan:] There's just a certain culture about Northwest Tap that you can't really get anywhere else. 'Cause it's great to, you know, smile and dance and have nice arms, and it's another thing to get really serious and, you know, discuss what you're going through in your daily lives, what so many people are going through. It's such a good feeling that it feels like someone hears you, you know, someone hears me, someone hears us. Miss Shakiah has been such an important role model for me. When you can see the passion in someone, when you can see why they do what they do, you just look at them and you see them and you're, like, "You're doing what you're supposed to be doing."
What?
[Students:] Yeah! Yeah!
[Shakiah Danielson:] It's not a small thing for them to trust you, and so, I value that, a lot. I learn them. I don't assume I know them. I learn them. Some are reserved, some are more outgoing, and you let them be them, you let them tell you who they are.
I think that the biggest thing that they get out of this, at least from what I see, is a sense of self. You know how, when you grow, you always come to "Who am I?" You always end up coming back to that question: "Who am I?" And then you get a sense of who you are, and then you grow a little bit more and then you're, like, "O crap! Who am I?," you know, again!
Dance, to me, is one of those tools that I use to work out that question. In dance, I'm able to discern those areas in these kids and show them, not a great dance move, but how they use dance to deal with that area in their life.
[Talaya Logan:] It's really part of the foundation of who I am. It just really rooted me in all of my core values, and being a young woman, and being confident, and being, really, who I am, and not being afraid to be who I am. Especially growing up, I was always the black girl in the room and, just being an outcast like that, it was really hard for me and I found myself trying to assimilate with the other groups and, you know, like the things that they liked, and I realized it wasn't what I liked to do, and once I found dance, I found myself, like, I found, kind of, my roots.
I actually have really bad stage fright. When I go on stage, I get so nervous. I get this really, like, hard knot, kind of, in my stomach.
[Shakiah Danielson:] It hits my stomach. It hits my stomach. What I feel-I'm proud!
[Music: Hell you talmbout. Hell you talmbout. Hell you talmbout. Hell you talmbout. Hell you talmbout. Walter Scott. Say his name! Walter Scott. Say his name! Walter Scott. Say his name! Walter Scott. Won't you say his name?]
I guess I'm excited. I'm pumped. I'm proud. I love, I love them!
[Music: Jerame Reed. Say his name! Jerame Reed. Say his name! Jerame Reed. Say his name! Jerame Reed. Won't you say his name? Phillip White. Say his name! Phillip White. Say his name! Phillip White. Say his name! Phillip White. Won't you say his name? Say his name! Say his name! Say his name! Say his name! Say his name! Say his name! Say his name! Say his name! Say his name! Hell you talmbout. Hell you talmbout. Hell you talmbout. Hell you talmbout. Hell you talmbout. Hell you talmbout. Eric Garner. Say his name! Eric Garner.]
I care about these kids, knowing that they have value and worth. I want them doing pieces like this, and participating, and knowing they don't deserve to murdered by law, and that they can bring change, and demonstrate the compassion that they don't always receive.
"I learn them, I don't assume I know them..."
"it's not a small thing for them to trust you, so i value that a lot"